Three reasons why Cork is Ireland’s next digital nomad hotspot
The term “digital nomad” isn’t a new one, it is used to describe those who work remotely via the internet. Today’s digital nomads are leading the shift towards remote and flexible work and are embracing the idea of working from any location.
Cork City has become an attractive location for large multinational corporations to relocate to over the past decade. With the freelancing and coworking trend about to take over, Cork is about to experience a digital nomad boom. Here at Glandore we decided to take a look into the reasons why the city is well positioned to become Ireland’s next digital nomad hotspot.
Culture and Amenities
Cork is Ireland’s second largest city and was ranked third in the Condé Nast Traveller’s Friendliest Cities in the World in 2018. Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Mick Finn spoke about how “fantastic it is to see that global media is picking up on the friendliness of Corkonians and their innate curiosity about visitors, which makes Cork City a place of welcome.” The city is bursting with independent coffee shops, trendy bars and local artisan food producers. This aspect alone attracts large numbers of people to the city with much of this produce sold in the world-famous English Market in the city centre. Cork is described as the food capital of Ireland and it easy to understand why. Ann-Marie O’Sullivan said “It has an incredibly rich arts, culture and sporting heritage which all contribute to providing an incomparable work life balance for anyone living here or choosing to relocate to this modern city region.”
Location and Places to Work
Cork is just 2.5 hours from Dublin city and is located in the south West of Ireland. The city is bike and pedestrian friendly and offers a city bike sharing scheme along with Irish Rail and Bus Eireann providing excellent transport links to commuters. Cork city airport is also only 10 minutes drive from the city and provides daily flights to the UK and Europe along with recently added transatlantic routes. If it’s the beautiful countryside you are after, within 15 minutes you can escape the city and be on your way to west Cork to enjoy the beautiful scenery and get some fresh sea air. The city is home to an expanding cyber security, pharmaceutical and IT industry. With companies like Apple, EMC, Amazon and McAfee all calling Cork their European base, it is no wonder talent is flowing into the city.
Cost of living
Cork is predicted to be the fastest growing city under the Government’s Ireland 2040 strategy. While other European cities offer digital nomads a city experience, Cork offers both a city experience and the rural tranquillity that so many digital nomads wish to avail of. The cost of living in Cork is much more affordable than Dublin and neighbouring European cities. Numbeo research shows that Cork is almost 5% less expensive to live in than in Dublin with restaurants costing an average of 10 percent less in Cork city. Sarah Thatt-Foley, public affairs executive with Cork Chamber of Commerce spoke to The Irish Times recently about how there has been a renewed interest in Cork in the wake of Brexit, which is leading to job opportunities and that salaries overall would be on a par with Dublin and the rest of Europe.